THE GIST

- The Jiaolong submersible and tender ship are in the Pacific Ocean preparing for a series of dives into the Mariana Trench.

- The maximum depth rating for the Jiaolong, which is designed for scienitifc research, is 7,000 metres (22,960 feet).

A Chinese submersible is poised to attempt the country's deepest-ever manned dive, state media said Monday, as Beijing seeks to reach another technological milestone.

The "Jiaolong" craft has arrived at a designated area in the Pacific Ocean aboard a Chinese ship and is set to dive 7,000 meters (22,960 feet) into the Mariana Trench, the official Xinhua news agency said.

The vessel -- named after a dragon from Chinese mythology -- reached 5,188 meters in a Pacific Ocean dive last July, Xinhua said, theoretically putting most of the ocean floor's vast resources within China's reach.

Earlier this year, American film director James Cameron descended about seven miles (11 kilometers) to the bottom of the Mariana Trench in the western Pacific -- the deepest place in the world.

His effort is believed to have at least equaled the record for the deepest manned dive, set by a US Navy officer and a Swiss oceanographer in 1960, according to Guinness World Records.

In the first of its six dives, the Jiaolong -- which can take up to three crew -- will venture down more than 5,000 meters, then progressively increase the depth in later missions, each of them eight to 12 hours long, Xinhua said.

Calls to the State Oceanic Administration went unanswered.

The deep-sea dive push comes as China plans to launch a spacecraft to conduct its first manned space docking later this month, part of its efforts to establish a permanent space station by 2020.